INVESTIGATION OF CHEESE AND OTHER FOODSTUFF SAMPLES WITH THE LISTERIA-TEK ELISA

Investigation of 32 cheese samples (of which 12 were naturally contami nated with Listeria spp.) and four other food samples (of which one wa s naturally contaminated) with the Listeria-Tek ELISA revealed that th e ELISA is capable of indicating, within 2 d, which samples are lister ia-negative. The investigations showed no false-negative results, only one sample was false-positive. The advantage of this ELISA is that ne gative samples can be excluded from further analysis within a time per iod of 2 d, which is 2 d earlier than with culture methods. ELISA-posi tive samples need to be further investigated by isolation, biochemical and haemolysis tests.